The Fairy Tale Bride

He reached up and touched her shoulders. “Who is he, Lisa? Is it someone you know?”

“It’s…Jared,” she stuttered. “Jared Lovell.”

Nope. Nothing. He still hadn’t a clue.

He gave a shake of his head and she threw up her hands in exasperation. “Jared Lovell? From Sultry Suburbs?”

Now that sounded vaguely familiar, but he still wasn’t getting it. Guy. Girl. Drunken fumble in an alleyway. “Who?”

Lisa shook her head. She looked mad. She pointed her finger. “That,” she hissed, “is the groom for the wedding I’m helping out with. You know – the wedding of the year.”

Now, he got it. “Ahh…,” he glanced over his shoulders. “I take it that…isn’t the bride?” To be truthful he was wondering how on earth Lisa knew who it was. There wasn’t much to go on.

“Not unless she’s dyed her hair and it’s grown by four inches in the last twenty-four hours.”

Okay. The wedding of year wasn’t looking good right now. But why was Lisa so upset?

He hesitated. “Is the bride a friend of yours? I thought you didn’t know her that well.”

Lisa sucked in another breath. Her brow was furrowed. “I hate this. I hate things like this. Nancylynn loves him. She talked about him to me. She obviously trusts him.” She lifted her hand again. “And look at him. Look at what he’s doing. How dare he? This is her home town. How dare he come here and behave like that – as if Nancy means nothing to him?”

She stepped forward, he could feel the fire sparking from her, see the momentum in her body and moved sideways – straight into her path.

“Ooof!” She walked straight into him. “What are you doing? Get out of my way!”

Adam shook his head and held her by the shoulders. “No way. You don’t know him, Lisa. You have no idea what he’s like. I’m not letting you put yourself in that position. He’s drunk. You’ve no idea how he’ll react.”

Another peal of female laughter and mumbled voices sounded from the alleyway and he cringed. He shook his head. “The guy’s obviously not who he pretends to be.”

He chose his words carefully. “Maybe Nancy knows? Maybe the marriage isn’t what you think it is? Aren’t some of these Hollywood marriages a sham, or a publicity stunt? Maybe this one is the same? Didn’t you say it was really short notice?”

Lisa’s face paled. “Yes. Yes, it is.” She put her hand up to her throat. “Oh no. Maybe Nancylynn is pregnant. I never even thought about that.” Her eyes glassed over. “Maybe she’s pregnant and her husband-to-be is cheating on her. The jackass.” The determined glint appeared in her eye again and she tried to step around him.

“No way.” He held her firmly. “You don’t know any of the circumstances. Don’t jump to conclusions.”

“Don’t jump to conclusions? What other conclusion is there? Jared Lovell is a no-good cheating lowlife. And it’s about time somebody told him.” Now she was shouting and her voice carried easily down the street.

There was an exclamation from the alleyway. An acknowledgement that something had been heard.

Adam quickly put his arm around Lisa and steered her away. The last thing he wanted was the so-called bridegroom exiting the alleyway and causing a scene. Lisa would probably end up nose to nose with him right now.

She shrugged off his arm. “Don’t,” she muttered and started walking quickly down the street. It was obvious she was upset. And although he understood, in principle, why she was upset, he couldn’t really understand why she was taking it so personally.

It wasn’t like Nancy and Jared were her best friends. She didn’t know the guy at all, and she’d only met Nancy again a few days ago.

Right now, if he ever saw Jared Lovell again, he’d probably wring his neck with his bare hands.

Adam took a deep breath and walked behind her, his brain spinning.

They’d already turned and walked down Front Avenue and it didn’t take her long to pull her keys from her bag and slot them into her doorway.

Her hair flicked over her shoulder. She turned to face him. Were those tears glistening in her eyes? “Thanks for a nice evening, Adam,” she said swiftly, her voice trembling.

He nodded. It was obvious she couldn’t wait to get away from him. Whatever it was that had bothered her she wasn’t about to share. Women. He’d never understand them.

She pushed open her door and stepped inside. “Good night, Adam,” she said quietly as she closed the door. The flash of red disappeared. And with it – all the unspoken promises.

Adam stood there for a few seconds. How could a night that had started with such promise end in such a disaster?

Chapter Six

‡

Lisa wasn’t just at the end of her tether, she was practically dangling from the cliff edge.

She winced as yet another delicate dress was yanked over the head of Ruby. Polly had one lying discarded at her feet – a puddle of very expensive silk covered in crystals. They were taking dresses off and tossing them to the side before Lisa could rescue them.

Nancy in the meantime was no help at all. She’d been biting her nails and staring out the window in a virtual trance ever since she got here. The only time she blinked into life was when her phone beeped.

Lisa gathered up the discarded dresses. Polly and Ruby had abandoned the concept of closing the curtains in the dressing rooms. And Lisa was doing her best not to stare but it was clear that even in the last week Polly had gained a little weight. Her hand was never away from the basket of chocolates from Sage’s shop. Maybe she should stop restocking? Ruby, on the other hand, had brought her own bottle of pink champagne which she’d drunk half of already – even though it was barely midday.

She was standing in the middle of the shop floor, dressed only in her low-cut bra, thong and stilettos, with her hands on her hips. She swung around towards Lisa – almost taking Lisa’s eye out with her boob. “I think I’ve tried every dress you have. I don’t like anything.”

Bang go my sales. Lisa could barely see over the rainbow of silk, tulle and crystals under her nose. She supressed a sigh and nodded towards the stockroom. “I have other dresses that aren’t on display. Feel free to take a look.”

She was at her wits’ end. Every single second of her patience had been stretched. Ruby topped up her glass and strutted over to the stockroom. Polly – who didn’t like to be left behind – grabbed a handful of chocolate and followed her.

Lisa bit her lip and put the dresses down on the chaise lounge next to Nancy and started rehanging the dresses. She took a deep breath. “How are you, Nancy? Is everything okay?”

Nancy’s head shot around towards her. It was almost as if she’d forgotten she was in the bridal salon.

“Yes,” she said defensively. “Everything’s fine.”

A hundred thoughts were shooting through Lisa’s brain. A thousand words were dancing on her lips. Well, four really. Your fiancé’s a cheater.

But did she really want to be the person to ruin the celebrity wedding of the year? More importantly, did she want to be the person who looked Nancy in the eye and told her news that would devastate her?

Why was any of this her business? She and Adam couldn’t possibly be the only people who’d seen Jared.

And everything wasn’t fine. Nancy’s nerves looked just as shattered as hers. She was practically jiggling as she sat on the chaise lounge, wringing her hands together.

Maybe Jared’s actions the other night were just a one-off drunken, stupid mistake. And it was none of her business anyway. She barely knew Nancy and news about her fiancé’s actions would hardly be welcomed.

The yapping from the stockroom was becoming unbearable. Lisa took another breath. “Nancy, I’m sorry but we’re running out of time. I know you’re having another fitting for your dress tomorrow, but if Polly and Ruby don’t pick something soon, there’ll won’t be time to make sure their dresses fit properly.”

If Nancy’s brow wasn’t so botoxed she was

sure there would be deep lines across it. She pushed herself up and walked decisively over to the two women in the stockroom. “Pick something.” The yabbering stopped instantly. “Pick something in the next five minutes or I’ll pick it for you.” She turned on her heel and walked away.

Lisa finished hanging the last dress. She’d tried to help as much as she could. “Nancy, what about different colors or different styles?” She’d suggested it before, but Nancy had always been non-committal.

“No. They wear the same dress and the same color.”

It was pretty clear there was no argument here.

Lisa walked back to the stockroom. Polly and Ruby were whispering to each other, both with shocked expressions on their faces.